This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 000371 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2015 
TAGS: PREL PTER MOPS PGOV IZ IT ITALIAN POLITICS ITALY NATIONAL ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: ITALY: RUTELLI DISCUSSES CENTER-LEFT FOREIGN 
POLICY FOCUS 
 
REF: ROME 122 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ronald Spogli for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. At a February 3 lunch with Daisy Party leader 
Francesco Rutelli, the Ambassador stressed the importance of 
NATO to the Transatlantic Alliance and registered our concern 
that a future center-left government not look to Europe at 
the expense of Italy's historically strong bilateral 
relationship with the U.S.  Rutelli tried to assure the 
Ambassador that an Italy influential inside Europe was also 
in the U.S. interest and said the center-left believes in 
strong relations with both Europe and the U.S.  He said NATO 
is essential to European security policy.  However, Rutelli 
admitted the actual policies will depend on the relative 
strength of the political parties that form the center-left 
after all votes are counted.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador hosted Daisy party leader Francesco 
Rutelli for lunch February 3.  The atmosphere was relaxed and 
friendly with Rutelli earnestly trying to display his desire 
for partnership with the U.S. should the center-left win the 
April 9 national elections.  Rutelli was accompanied by Daisy 
Foreign Affairs Director and Europarliamentarian Lapo 
Pistelli and Member of Parliament Gianni Vernetti.  The 
Ambassador was accompanied by POL M/C and Poloff. 
 
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BETTER EUROPEAN RELATIONS: CONTINUED STRONG US TIES 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3. (C) The Ambassador noted that center-left leaders spoke 
frequently of a need to increase Italy's influence in Europe 
and expressed concern that the center-left's turn to Europe 
not come at the expense of historically strong U.S-Italian 
relations.  Rutelli said that Italy's strength inside Europe 
had diminished under PM Berlusconi and that the center-left's 
priority would be to fortify its relationship in Europe 
without weakening its ties to the U.S.  Pistelli recognized 
that, from the U.S. perspective, U.S-Italian relations have 
never been stronger than in the past four years.  However, he 
continued, Italy has lost influence inside Europe and this 
has made Italy a less useful friend to the U.S.  It would be 
in the U.S. interest, he suggested, for the U.S. to have a 
close friendship with an Italy that also carries weight 
inside Europe. 
 
¶4. (C) Rutelli expanded on the "useful friend" theory by 
noting that Europe is passing through a transition period in 
which Italy can play a critical role.  He said that Angela 
Merkel is dramatically changing Germany's foreign policy 
focus; that changes might occur in the leadership of the 
United Kingdom in the near future; and that France was 
politically paralyzed until elections in 2007.  This provides 
Italy a unique moment to wield substantial influence in 
Europe.  Rutelli added that Jacque Chirac does not want to be 
remembered as the President who stalled EU integration, so 
the time might be ripe for compromise on tricky integration 
issues, including the EU budget.  Rutelli favors a seat for 
the EU in the UN Security Council and said a Prodi government 
would use its rotating seat in 2007 for that purpose. 
 
¶5. (C) Rutelli said there is no such thing as a multipolar 
world in which the U.S. and the EU compete for influence with 
one another.  He said the U.S. and the EU are the same pole. 
To Rutelli's apparent surprise, Pistelli admitted that the 
Union platform makes reference to a multipolar world with 
competing U.S.-EU interests and referred to that as a 
compromise that he was forced to accept. 
 
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NATO AND DEFENSE ISSUES 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) The Ambassador expressed concern that NATO does not 
figure prominently in the Union platform.  Rutelli responded 
that Italy must increase its defense spending but it will be 
difficult to find the resources to do so given Italy's 
current budget constraints.  He expressed support for a 
common EU defense policy and said this will help make NATO 
stronger.  Rutelli responded that Europe and the 
Transatlantic Alliance are two fundamental pillars of the 
Daisy Party defense policy.  Pistelli continued that it is 
inconceivable to imagine European security without NATO and 
commented that it would not even be technologically possible 
for at least twenty years.  Pistelli, expressing his belief 
that Washington remains unsure as to the future role of NATO, 
also commented that the "coalition of the willing" had 
weakened NATO.  Rutelli dismissed concerns that radical 
elements of the Union opposed to Italy's membership in NATO 
could influence defense policy.  He said Union PM candidate 
Romano Prodi is committed to NATO and is close to the U.S. 
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ITALIAN TROOPS IN IRAQ 
---------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Rutelli actually opened the substantive portion of the 
conversation by referring to the frank conversation he had 
had with the Ambassador on Italian troop deployments in Iraq 
(A).  Rutelli asked what the difference was between the 
center-left's intention to announce a troop withdrawal and 
Defense Minister Martino's actual announcement of troop 
withdrawals by the end of 2006.  The Ambassador noted that 
campaign theatrics probably affected the government's 
announcement but made it clear that we understand current 
troop withdrawals to be conditions-based.  He noted that a 
source close to Prodi had indicated there would be a clear 
deadline for completing the center-left's withdrawal plans 
and we would consider telegraphing a specific end point a 
very unhelpful signal to send.  The Ambassador also noted 
that Prodi's most recent announcement had failed to mention 
the need to consult with the U.S. prior to taking action. 
Rutelli seemed surprised, but Pistelli confirmed the 
Ambassador's statement.  COMMENT: Prodi's standard line on 
Italian troop withdrawals from Iraq generally includes 
reference to consultations with the U.S.  Not all members of 
his coalition agree with this, and it is likely Prodi was 
playing to his audience of leftist Europarliamentarians when 
he made this most recent comment. END COMMENT. 
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ITALIAN ENGAGEMENT IN THE WORLD 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Rutelli said Italy should be actively engaged in the 
world with an emphasis on the Middle East where Italy should 
not be a mere spectator but actively involved.  He said Italy 
has had a large military presence in the Balkans and spent 
considerable amounts of money but has not been part of the 
political decision-making process.  Rutelli said that would 
change with a Prodi government.  He predicted a potentially 
nuclear-armed Iran would be the biggest foreign policy 
challenge of the next few years.  He credited Berlusconi for 
improving the Italian relationship with Israel but said Italy 
has ceded too much space to Spain in Latin America.  He said 
Italy is a natural partner of many Latin American countries 
because of the large Italian population there. 
 
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DEALING WITH HAMAS 
------------------ 
 
¶9. (C) Rutelli said that Hamas must be willing to set aside 
its militia if it intends to govern.  Pistelli espoused a 
firm but flexible approach but cautioned that the 
international community cannot expect Hamas to do in a week 
what many Arab countries still have not formally done: 
publicly recognize Israel's right to exist.  He said Hamas 
must do so eventually but that it could not happen 
immediately.  All agreed with Pol M/C that Hamas cannot 
participate in government while supporting the use of 
terrorism as a political tool, and that Hamas' participation 
in the Palestinian Authority would mean implicit acceptance 
of a product of the Oslo Peace Accords, and thus acceptance 
of the result of a process of negotiations with Israel. 
Rutelli noted that Hizbollah has participated in the 
government in Lebanon while not renouncing violence though he 
recognized that Hizbollah's violence is directed at Israel 
and not Lebanon. 
 
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COUNTER TERRORISM/INTELLIGENCE REFORM 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Rutelli expressed full support for Minister of 
Interior Pisanu's policy of expelling Muslim imams who 
espouse violence.  He criticized the independent magistracy's 
uncoordinated approach to prosecuting terrorists and terror 
sympathizers and said Italy needs to establish a centralized 
counter terrorist magistracy modeled after the anti-mafia 
magistracy.  Without providing details, Rutelli also said 
Italy's intelligence services are still structured to combat 
the cold war and must be reformed. 
 
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WHAT IS THE UNION COALITION 
--------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) When challenged on whether Prodi would be able to 
maintain the relatively moderate foreign policies promoted by 
the Daisy Party and the Democrats of the Left (DS), Rutelli 
generally responded that the two parties form 85 percent of 
the Union coalition and would set the general program. 
However, he frequently hedged when pressed, saying the actual 
policy will not be known until votes are counted on April 9 
and the relative strengths of each coalition member are known. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶12. (C) COMMENT: Rutelli sought out this meeting and, as in 
previous occasions, tried earnestly to portray himself and 
the center-left as a reliable partner for the U.S. on 
important foreign policy issues and in the war on terrorism. 
He was especially eager, if not fully convincing, to explain 
that a center-left move toward Europe would not come at the 
expense of relations with the U.S.  He was also adamant that 
NATO should sit at the core of European defense policy, even 
if he claimed nobody is yet sure what the future of NATO 
looks like.  We generally agree with his assessment that the 
Daisy and DS form a core of the Prodi coalition that would 
independently develop policies relatively compatible with 
U.S. interests.  However, like Rutelli, we believe their 
ability to proceed with those policies will depend on the 
relative strength of the hard left.  END COMMENT. 
SPOGLI